Chokes have been used for decades in oilfield operations to reduce the fluid pressure of high pressure flowing fluids, which often contain solids and/or chemicals which significantly reduce the effective life of the choke. The life of a choke is also significantly reduced by cavitation and/or flashing that occurs when high pressure fluids are decompressed.
Various attempts have been made to reduce cavitation and flashing in chokes. Multiple concentric cages or multiple stacked disks may be used to define a torturous path through a choke, but these designs are very costly to manufacture. Stacked disks are disclosed, for example, in a Weir Power & Industrial brochure for their X-Stream choke. The cost of manufacturing multiple disks with varying diameter staggered cylinders extending from the disk face is a significant drawback to these designs.
The disadvantages of the prior art are overcome by the present invention, an improved reduced cavitation oilfield choke is hereinafter disclosed.